Charlottes stars stepped up today and had the game everybody thought they could here. With huge games coming from Raymond Felton, Matt Carroll, Antonio Meeking and Bernard Robinson, a win was a lock. The game was tied going into the 2nd quarter, but with a very impressive 30 point 2nd quarter a lead that would never be relinquished took hold. They only down side to the Bobcats victory was that their star PF Sean May went down with an ankle injury just 2 minutes in and never returned.

Sean May - 2 mins, 2-2 FG, 4 points. May started off on the slimmer and quicker Josh Powell. After taking a strong first step and then a fadeaway jumper, May came down awkwardly and sprained his right ankle. He headed to the locker room, coming out 10 minutes later limping. He seemed pretty depressed about his injury and was forced to sit on the end of the bench for the rest of the game.

Matt Carroll  39 mins, 7-15 FG, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 20 points. This was another very impressive all around game for Carroll, showing once again why this former NBDL callup appears to be a lock to stay in the league. He is a deceptively quick, smart player that seems to be able to do well against any kind of defender. Matt seemed to be everywhere all at once today. If there was a loose ball, a long rebound, or a teammate in trouble, he was there. The only problem he seemed to have today is fighting through screens. Even with playing all but one single minute of the game, he still was fresh and had his legs under him until the final buzzer. Hes been one of the Top 5 players at the RMR so far without a question. He is also the player that his team cheers on more then anyone else, meaning he is a likeable player off the court too. Every time his shot went up today, you expect it to go in.

Raymond Felton - 24mins, 5-9, 3 rebounds, 5 assist, 2 steals, 2 TO, 15 points. Felton looked like the complete opposite of the player he was on opening night here in Salt Lake City. He was confident, even with his main man Sean May out, and was pushing the ball and controlling the tempo beautifully. He was extremely intense during the game, showing the same passion we all remember from this confident and energetic PG at North Carolina. Felton was creating his own shot effortlessly today, with his explosive speed there wasnt a single player on the court who had a chance to stay in front of him. He would get to the rim at will and either finish the play himself or dump it off for a teammate, looking deadly doing both.

Bernard Robinson - 32mins, 5-13, 6 rebounds, 3 assist, 2 steals, 12 points. Robinsons first good game of the RMR came when his team needed it most. With May going down early, someone needed to really step their game up, and that someone today was the former Michigan product. He looked much more aggressive then his previous games, finally going to the basket strong for high percentage shots and finishing. They only thing negative about his game was that when he did get things going then he sometimes forgot about his teammates. Regardless, he played extremely hard and really wanted to win. This was his breakout game at the RMR.

Antonio Meeking - 26mins, 5-9, 5 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, 15 points. Played some center and guarded the much bigger Pavel, but that only made him play meaner and tougher. Meeking was fearless attacking the rim even with DJ and Pavel waiting for him. For his size, his first step is fantastic, leaving most big men in the dust. His smooth shot then made defenders commit to guarding him out on the perimeter, making him extremely tough to guard. Meeking has slimmed down from the 275 pounds he was at coming out of Louisiana Tech to a much more compact 245 pounds now, which has completely opened up his game on both ends of the floor. The Bobcats are reportedly ecstatic with the newfound explosiveness he has shown here in Salt Lake, and Meeking is apparently already very close to making the team.

Alan Anderson - 18mins, 2 boards, 1 steal, 7 points. We still haven't seen anything great from Alan in the three games he has played in. He floats around on defense too much and loses track of his man because of that. He wasn't getting enough touches so he started calling for the ball more aggressively, but had a hard time making things happen when he did. Anderson started to get frustrated afterwards and made some careless fouls that are uncharacteristic of him. Surprisingly going undrafted the way he did, because of red flags on his back, and then being put in a situation like this where his back against the wall is a draining state of mind to be in, and you could definitely tell that its taking its toll on him.

Dallas

Damien Tolman

Pavel Podkolzin- - Pavel was impressive today compared to his previous game. He was running down the court, grabbing rebounds, scoring and being very aggressive. His shooting was impressive as he went 5-9 from the field and 2-2 from the line for a total of 12 points. He was constantly diving for rebounds, collecting 7 of them, 4 of which came on the offensive end where he was particularly aggressive. Although his defense wasn't astonishing, he made an impact with his size, having only one block but forcing many missed shots. He picked up his fair share of fouls, picking up 5 personals.

Josh Powell- Powell was a stud tonight, continuously getting himself open for his shot with off the ball movement, even hitting a sweet 18 foot jumper from straight away at one point. Powell is an extremely tough and physical player, constantly hustling into the lane to collect eight rebounds and draw contact. He finished 4-5 from the field and 6-10 from the line for 14 points. Josh was banging heads down low with no fear, causing him to commit 5 fouls. Powell was a little sloppy with the ball, though, resulting in 4 turnovers. He moved very well without the ball, but was trying a little too hard at times and wore down fast, slowing down while running up the courtlater in the game.

Filiberto Rivera- Rivera was putting a lot of effort in on the court, doing his best to be the team leader. His point guard skills were on full display, collecting five assists setting his teammates up. He did great moving the ball around, but his shooting was again off, going 1-6 from the field, 0-1 from three land, and 1-2 from the line. Rivera finished with 3 points total. He got a little overexcited at times and made some questionable decisions.

DJ Mbenga- Mbenga is quickly becoming a fan favorite for his incredible blocks and unbelievable hustle. Most of his 11 points came off second chance points, using his strength to get the ball around the basket, shooting 3-4 from the field and 5-8 from the line. Although his defensive numbers weren't huge (just one block) his defensive presence was an enormous difference maker for his team.

Micheal Harris- Harris was a perfect 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from the line. He used his athleticism to pick up seven defensive rebounds and one block and once again had a relatively mistake free game. He clearly knows his role on the floor and is willing to do all the little things to make up for his lack of a position at the NBA level.

Game #7, San Antonio Spurs vs. Atlanta Hawks

Spurs 79Hawks 71

Spurs

Laird Doman

The NBA champion Spurs are obviously not a team that is stacked with young NBA talent like the Hawks, as their lone first round picks from the last three years, Beno Udrih and Ian Mahinmi, are away helping their national teams. What we learned here was that if a group of semi talented, unselfish players fighting to make it in the NBA plays as a team, they can certainly beat out a team of individual players who are mostly playing with guaranteed contracts. Led by Britton Johnsen and Justin Hamilton, the Spurs only outscored Atlanta in the 1st quarter but still came away with the victory. With unexpected contributions from a pair of 7 footers the Spurs had an edge on the inside, as well as on the perimeter.

Britton Johnson - Another great showing by the local product in his attempt to finally stick on someones team this year. With many University of Utah fans in the crowed cheering Britton on, he had yet another dominate game. This time he finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds, but his stats didn't tell the entire story. He was very vocal on the court today, demanding nothing but the best out of all of his teammates. With Johnsons length, outside shooting and athletic ability, he is more of a small forward for the NBA, but he has been playing most of his minutes at power forward at the Rocky Mountain Review. Johnson is a great 3 point shooter and today went 3-7 from outside to back that up. Even when he missed, they looked very good coming off his hand and didnt seem to be very far off. He was the best player on the Spurs without a question and certainly one of the top players in the Revue so far.

Justin Hamilton  Hamilton has consistently improved throughout the week on the things he was lacking in his first games. Today he played great defense by using his muscular build to body up on the inside and quick feet to keep his man trapped on the perimeter. His shot is still very flat from outside, but he finish inside very well for a guard. Hamilton did a great job in the second half on Salim Stoudamire especially, taking advantage of his average ball handling skills to pick his pocket a few times in the backcourt. He had a very solid stat line of 11 points, 2 steals, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.

Ondrej Starosta  This 7'1 skinny French player had a nice game with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. He has nice hands inside for his size and really knows how to use his long arms. The downside to him is his lack of bulk as he was getting pushed around by almost every player on the opposing team. If he gets a little stronger in the future he could turn out to be somewhat serviceable.

Atlanta

Damien Tolman

Atlanta just didn't really seem like they wanted to win this game. They were shooting wild shots, playing lazy defense and not hustling down the court. They lost a key starter in Josh Smith early on in the game, and suffered to establish any type of rhythm for themselves. The first half was a very mediocre basketball performance by the Hawks that saw them trailing 40-29. In the second half they showed signs of life, even coming to within two points near the end, but lost energy down the stretch as the Spurs just overpowered them to finish them off with a score of 79-71.

Marvin Williams- Williams started the game as the team's starting Power Forward, being guarded by Britton Johnson of San Antonio. He got many opportunities to make a difference for his team but the only impact he made was a negative one. Marvin seemed very hesitant with the ball on offense, fumbling it multiple times, though he quickly retrieved it before it had a chance to be stolen. Amazingly enough he found himself without a first half turnover. The second half though he was a different player out there, looking like a lot more confident in his ball-handling skills. Williams didn't get any assists in the half, but got his teammates into good positions to set up other teammates.

Williams is struggling finding a role for himself on the court and seemed to have problems having the offense run through him. Later when he found himself without the ball, he seemed to just stand around, trying to think of what to do instead of acting, not being able to get himself or a teammate into scoring position. A big part of the problem seemed to be his durability, he looked as though he was getting very tired after just a couple minutes of play, and by the time he was pulled he looked as though he was going to break down. Unlike most prospects from this years draft, Williams hasnt been on a basketball court much in competitive situations since the season ended in early April. He hasnt had the luxury of staying in game shape through private workouts with NBA teams, and therefore is having problems shaking off the rust in such a foreign situation as far as hes concerned.

In the second half Williams looked a little more athletic and aggressive, diving for loose balls and moving very well to compliment to the offense without the ball. Marvin consistently was one of the first to get to the ball off the boards, pulling down all of his rebounds in the second half.

His shooting touch wasn't at all apparent in the first half, though, as he went 0-3 from the field and missed his only shot attempt from the free throw line. His only shots seemed to be in the 18-20 foot range and not contested very well, yet he still struggled with them. The second half still showed nothing but poor shooting for Marvin as he went 2-8, but at least he put the ball in the bucket finally, also going 3-5 from the line in this span.

As for the defensive side of the ball, Williams struggled badly, not having any steals or blocks, but the key stat to look at is that of the man he was guarding, Britton Johnson, who led all first half scorers with 16 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. Marvin left him wide open much of the time and got punished for that in the process. He didn't do much better in the second half either, with players scoring wildly on him, but he worked to contest more shots.

Josh Smith- For the first time, Smith seemed very excited to be out there on the court and was working very hard on both ends of the ball. He shot 4-8 from the field, but only 2-6 from the line with 10 points. He also picked up two steals as he was quick to see openings in the defense. Smith had a big time dunk, but then on another attempt landed on his ankle and was forced to sit for the rest of the game.

Josh Childress- Didn't attempt too many shots, but hit 3 of the 5 he did take. Childress was very aggressive on both sides of the court, but didn't find himself at the free throw line once in the game. He was really getting up to challenge shots, resulting in two blocked shots though many blocked shots attempts which earned him a couple of hard fouls, finally being taken out after he committed his sixth late in the game. Josh was one of the few players on the team that really looked like he wanted to win this game.

Boris Diaw- Boris didn't find himself shooting very often either, finishing with a 2-5 FG, 4 point performance. He moved great without the ball and did a good job of setting up the offense when he played point. Diaw also used his length on defense, coming up with two blocks and a steal, but also committing 5 fouls. Boris played more minutes then anyone on the Hawks and despite his low scoring total, seemed to be working very hard.

Salim Stoudamire- Stoudamire hasnt shown the best defensive skills in the world here, but really put up a fight against the guys he was going up against today, putting excellent pressure on the ball. His shooting stroke again wasn't looking great, taking some wild shots at times, although they were going in for him occasionally as they did at Arizona. Salim finished the game shooting 4-13 from the field and 1-4 from behind the arc, for 12 points. He also passed the ball very well at times, finishing with 2 TO's and 2 assists.

Gyasi Cline-Heard- By far the surprise of the day here at the RMR, showing a lot of hustle on both ends of the floor. He worked for his points and rebounds, using his strength and leaping ability to beat out his man time after time. The son of former NBA player and coach Garfield Heard finished with a game high 16 points off 6-8 shooting and, picking up the double-double at the end with his 10 rebounds. He was playing aggressively and had one of the most impressive performances today.

Game #8, Seattle Supersonics vs. Utah Jazz

Jazz 62Sonics 80

Utah

Laird Doman

This was a very poor showing by the Jazz, who were not working together as a team at all. With every major Jazz prospect disappointing here, combined with Seattle's best game so far, this spelled a blowout win for the Sonics. Utah got beat at every position and almost in every aspect of the game. The gym was packed when the game started, but emptied out quickly as things got embarrassing Jazz.

Kris Humphries  Humphries had his worst game here by far and was not the dominant player we had seen in the first few games in any way, shape or form. He finished off with 12 points and 6 rebounds and played horrible defense. Humphries wasn't crashing the boards the way we was in previous outings and he showed very little of the post moves that has made him such a force down low, launching up ill advised shot after ill advised shot. He had a particularly hard time versus the taller defenders Seattle threw at him and instead of using his speed to get around them, just tried to go over top of them which didn't work. He was really hurting his team with his play at certain points in this game.

Robert Whaley - Looked tired from the beginning and was making a lot of mental mistakes. He only shot the ball 4 times for 6 total points and never really inserted himself into this game. This just wasn't the big, mean, hustling Whaley of the previous games, looking much slower and not nearly as determined. With Seattle having so many big men at their disposal, the Jazz need him to really crash the boards hard in the game, but instead he only came away with 2 rebounds.

Kirk Snyder  Snyder went 1-5 from the field for 7 points, with zeros across the board in all the other areas except for a lone turnover. He looked very slow out there against the smaller and quicker guards from Seattle. In the second half the Jazz tried to use him at SF to see if that would help, but it didn't. In two games so far Snyder has had a hard time doing anything overly impressive.

Deron Williams  Another lackluster performance for Williams, with the most positive thing from this game being his first made three pointer in three games so far. So far in Utah he has shot the ball poorly, nearly fouled out of every game (if you could foul out), and struggled to get his teams offense to click. He has shown that he can play good defense and he certainly has great court vision, but hes had a trouble bringing it all together to really impact the game. Williams has shown some gaping holes in his game that need to be filled quickly for the Jazz to have success with this young point guard as their starter, mainly his perimeter shooting, ability to get into the lane and letting his teammates know where he wants them to be on the floor. At times he tries to get too fancy with the ball and his teammates end up standing around watching him over-handle. He finished with another average stat-line of 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 3 turnovers in 23 minutes of play. Its too early to make any final conclusions, but Deron will clearly have to make some adjustments in his game to translate his style of play over from college to the NBA.

Olu Famutimi - The lone bright spot in this game for the Jazz. Doesn't say a word on the court, he just seems to explode out of nowhere on plays. Thanks to his huge vertical leap, he is a very good rebounder on both ends for a little guy. This showed with his team tying 6 rebounds in only 14 minutes. Famutimi is impressing as an athletic hustle player, to the point that he might get a shot to learn some ball-handling and outside shooting skills on the job for a year with an NBA team.

CJ Miles  Miles went from looking like a solid and opportunistic shooter to a very streaky one with questionable decision making. His shot selection in the game was awful, and it showed in the boxscore by going 1-7 on the night. He didn't play good defense like in the previous games and wasn't passing the ball well either. Miles is clearly a high school player that is going to take some time until he can gain some consistency. The grinning kid we saw in previous games was replaced with a very frustrated one tonight.

Seattle

Damien Tolman

Seattle had a very impressive game, coming in as a long shot to win against the talent assembled by the Utah Jazz, they turned the tables and made the Jazz look like a high school team at times. They locked down on defense, forcing the Jazz into shooting 33.9% from the field and 0-9 from the three point line. Mateen Cleaves of all people was blowing by everybody, to the point that the Jazz seemed to be just standing around. The final score was 80-62, Seattle with the win, knocking Utah out of first place in the Rocky Mountain Revue standings. In review this game was a summer league slaughter.

Robert Swift- Robert seemed some what absent at the beginning of the game, not doing much at all but then later showed a little amount of life. He only made two shots but also only attempted three, both of which were banked in quite nicely. He picked up very quick fouls, finishing with a total of 5 while only collecting 4 rebounds.

Ezra Williams- Williams was a surprising spark off the bench with 12 points on 5-8 shooting in only 17 minutes.. He moved fantastic both with and without the ball, continuing to create shots for himself even when he wasn't running the offense.

Johan Petro- Was missing in every aspect of the offense once again, not scoring even once and only picking up one rebound all game. Defensively, he was a little more notable, coming up with 2 steals and 3 blocks though also committing 6 fouls. This has been a very disappointing summer league campaign for Petro so far. It will clearly take him some time to adapt to American basketball and there seems to be a barrier between him and the coaching staff as he is not really sure what they want him to do.

Felix Noel- Noel was the surprise of this game by far. Coming off the bench and playing just 16 minutes, he led his team in scoring with 13 points on 3-7 shooting from the floor with 7-9 from the free throw line. Hes a strong, but limited 6-9 power forward that loves to establish deep position inside and tries to dunk absolutely everything. Felix always did his best to be the first to the ball and had some major throw downs to spark the crowd.